East and West |
Whakapapa comes warts and all, making east very different from west.
27) History suggests that planning in the West should be very different from planning in the East. The contrast between east and west in New Zealand existed long before the first canoes arrived. The trade winds swept across the southern oceans battering the west coast with wind and rain. The east was the soft underbelly of the land. Tasman found the west coast and sailed away from this inhospitable land. Cook found the land of plenty on the east coast and stayed on to enjoy good anchorages, fresh water, and plentiful food. Cook foreshadowed the lifestyle of the Kerikeri orchardist. Out west it was much tougher. The captain of the “Dromedary” looked over the bar and turned back to return to the Bay of Islands. The first whare wananga was in the west. Thinking rather than conforming. Pompallier told his priests to retain te reo and ancient customs. He was two hundred years ahead of his time. In the east Marsden sought conversion to the security of the establishment. In the west rugged self sufficient pakehas took Maori wives and merged into the mangroves with hardly a trace. In the east there was settlement because the English knew what a town was. The east was bi-cultural and cultured. In the west the marae remained dominant. The east became materialistic. The west remained deeply spiritual. Dark and foreboding. Lost in the fog. Local whakapapa is local whakapapa, and it comes warts and all. The problem to avoid is revisionist planning which sets out to rewrite history.
It is the differences between Heritge Precincts which are important. |
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